Queensland roads holding back nation's fresh fruit

Etheridge and Flinders Shire Council are preparing a seven million dollar proposal to upgrade the inland Kennedy Development Road.

The proposal will be submitted as part of the third round of the Regional Development Australia Fund [RDAF] and will be their last chance to receive any money from the programme.

The councils pitched the idea in the previous two rounds but were unsuccessful.

Etheridge Shire Council mayor, Will Attwood said the proposal was an important nation building exercise.

"Queensland needs a north-south goods route, virtually from the Cape [York] right down into New South Wales where it'll join up and then right down into Victoria," he said. "It's a direct route all the way down into the southern states so it's a lot faster and cheaper to move goods."

The improvements Mr Attwood said would save at least a day's travel between far north Queensland and Melbourne.

"Within two, two-and-a-half days you could probably get from Cairns all the way down to Victoria ... so produce that's picked ripe on the [Atherton] Tablelands you could have it down to Sydney or Melbourne in two days," he said.

President of the Mareeba District Fruit and Vegetable Growers, Joe Moro said an upgrade was a higher priority than flood proofing the Bruce Highway.

"We think it's extremely important that those inland routes get upgraded and we have very good access, in particular during the wet season when parts of the Bruce Highway are flooded in," he said. "We can move product not only from the Tablelands but out of places like Tully and Innisfail where we have a lot of bananas that are in play at that time of year."

"When that flooding occurs perishable product can't just sit around and wait in cool rooms while the water gets out of the way."

Alternatively Mr Attwood said the Kennedy Development Road could be almost flood-proofed because of the terrain and lower rainfall figures.

But the major obstacle he said in gaining approval was having the Federal Government invest in a regional road.

"That has been one of our stumbling blocks and we've been told that," Mr Attwood said. "What we're saying is it's not just a road, it's of some great state significance to be able to move produce through. It has so much more potential."

Mr Attwood said the road could have a similar affect on regional towns as recent upgrades to the Newell Highway in New South Wales.

"You can see the benefits to towns like Dubbo, West Wyalong and Narrandera. They're all thriving communities because they have this highway running through them," he said.

Far north Queensland fruit and vegetable produce is valued at between $600 and $700 million a year. Key produce include bananas, mangoes, papaya, lychees and coffee.

Almost $1 billion has been allocated to the RDAF programme. Father and son Robbie and Bob Katter are the state and federal members in the region.